An evaluation of the potential effectiveness of tobacco-related health messages among Inuit in Nunavut, Canada: What types of messages work best at promoting smoking cessation among Inuit smokers?

• Main Author: Costello, Mary-Jean
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: University of Waterloo 2013
• Subjects: Tobacco; Inuit; Communication; Health; Health Studies and Gerontology; Canada; Nunavut; Rankin Inlet; inuit; Iqaluit
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10012/7652

Background. Inuit experience some of the highest rates of tobacco use and of tobacco-related diseases in Canada. Communication strategies, such as health warnings on tobacco products, are seen as a necessary means of informing the public of tobacco-related health risk and motivating smokers to want to quit smoking. However, there is little evidence to suggest how such strategies might be working among Inuit nor is there evidence to suggest how best to communicate tobacco-related health risk to and promote smoking cessation among Inuit smokers. Objectives. (1) To systematically examine the effects of textual message frame (i.e., loss- vs. gain-framed), graphic type (i.e., gruesome vs. personal suffering), and narrative style (i.e., testimonial vs. didactic) on measures of message acceptance (i.e., personal relevance and perceived credibility), affective response, and potential message effectiveness. (2) To examine fear as a potential mediator of the relation between textual message frame and measures of potential message effectiveness, as well as of the relation between graphic type and measures of potential message effectiveness. (3) To examine the potential impact of the message spokesperson (i.e., Caucasian, middle-aged male/female vs. Inuit middle-aged male/female vs. Inuit Elder male/female) on measures of message acceptance and potential message effectiveness. Experimental design. A repeated measures (i.e., within-subject) 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design was used to examine the effects of textual message frame, graphic type and narrative style. A separate ranking task assessed the potential impact of the message spokesperson. Methods. Eligible participants (Inuit, aged 18 years of age or older, having smoked at least one cigarette in the previous 30 days and smoked over 100 cigarettes in their lifetime) were recruited in October 2012 from two communities in Nunavut (Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet). Participants completed a survey, an experimental procedure (i.e., a health warning rating task) and a health warning ...